August 2010/5

Investors should buy cat-exposed reinsurance stocks at the September peak of the US hurricane season rather than batten down the hatches and steer clear of the sector until the storm threat passes.

Lloyd's insurer Omega Insurance Holdings has reported a maiden loss in the first half of the year as the heavy toll from man-made and natural catastrophes and reserve strengthening pushed the group into the red for the first time.

After a five-year flood of UK specialty (re)insurers domiciling away from their home country Chaucer's revelation that, following a strategic review, it is to stay put in the UK is a welcome development to the impoverished HM Treasury.

It is often said that if you have a great underwriting team, the timing of a start-up (re)insurer is immaterial - soft markets or hard markets may affect its initial growth prospects, but should make no difference to its long-term chances success or failure.

A marked uptick in tropical storm activity occurred right on cue last week with the approach of September.

Glacier Re's slow demise as a live underwriter was completed last week with the announcement that its portfolio of business has been placed into run-off with immediate effect.

Omega Insurance Holdings expects to pay just $850,000 in compensation to ousted CEO Richard Tolliday.

Former Beazley Group chief underwriting officer Johnny Rowell has made his long-awaited return to the market after signing up to Pat Ryan's ambitious start-up proposition, The Insurance Insider revealed last week.

Fresh from being named over the weekend as a potential bidder in the forthcoming sale of UK insurer RBSI, sources have linked Berkshire Hathaway with a possible approach for Bank of America's (BoA) up-for-sale Balboa Insurance Group subsidiary.

Reserve releases by US and Bermudian (re)insurers were up by almost a third in the second quarter of 2010 compared to the prior-year period, according to a review by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus.